Comparing the BlackBerry Q10 with an iPhone 5 is admittedly like comparing chalk and cheese. One is great for a purpose, the other is equally great for another. And yet I had to get the two together because, after all, there was a time when I lived and breathed BlackBerry. Back in those days, apps weren’t that big a deal and it was all about battery and reliability.

Having spent a week or so with both phones side by side, I did discover a few things I liked about the BlackBerry. First of all, its design was so comfortable to hold in hand, plus it had a nice weight to it creating a device which just begs to be picked up. It wants to be used.

The keyboard is – as you’d expect – fantastic. Each key has just the right amount of travel and tactile feedback. As a buttonaholic, that suited me right down to the ground, as did the superior battery life and signal strength. I easily got 2-3 days from the BlackBerry’s 2,100mAh cell whereas the iPhone struggles to get past 1. I got an extra 1-2 bars of signal with the Q10 over my iPhone too, giving me 3G/HSPA coverage in areas I’d previously not been able to.

Sadly, there were too many downsides for me to even consider replacing my iPhone 5 with a Q10, and they’re almost all to do with the operating system and ecosystem. Not the hardware. 4 months after launching, BB10 is still struggling to attract developers of quality apps.

The display, although sharp and perfectly suited for the OS, was not at all usable for watching content. Its perfectly square and can only use half the screen, squashing any video down in to a tiny letterbox in the middle of the display. Then again, the phone isn’t made as a media consumption tool. Its the BB10 running modern version of a legacy BlackBerry.

The camera? I compared those in depth last week. In short: both produce sharp and clear images, but the BlackBerry was outperformed in lowlight and often over saturated colors. Particularly greens.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The crux of the matter is that in the old days, smartphones were no where near as powerful as they are now, and neither did they have such great portals to fantastic programs. Apple’s App Store makes the iPhone so much better than it would be if it didn’t have thousands of talented developers creating beautiful apps for iOS. And with the improvements to email and security over the past few years, iOS has not only proved itself as a great media consumption and gaming device for the regular Joe, but also a brilliant tool for enterprise.

BlackBerry used to be the “other” or “work” phone. But now that’s no longer necessary. Given the choice between having an iPhone or BlackBerry to balance work and pleasure, most will side with Apple’s handset.

As you already know, part of me is still a huge BlackBerry fan, so it pains me to say that I struggle to see the platform’s relevance anymore. The Q10 offers the diehard BBerry fan something new and infinitely better than what they previously had, but BB10 is nowhere near Android, iOS or Windows Phone yet. I sincerely hope the platform reaches its potential before the company decided to end the hardware side.

But to end on a positive note. The Q10 is a great communication device. If you’re not someone who cares too much about using your phone for all your media, or playing games or downloading tons of apps, there are few platforms that handle texts, emails and calls with the intuitive quality that BB10 has.

About Cam Bunton

Cam Bunton, Managing Editor. A film school graduate from the University of Cumbria, UK, Cam's past life was in mobile phone retail. His passion for cell phones got him in to that industry, and then in to this one. A family man with two kids, he somehow manages to balance his TiP duties with family life and a runaway Twitter addiction. He covers news, device comparisons, accessory and app reviews - pretty much anything and everything. Follow him on twitter: @TiP_Cam

Cam help me out here. I’ve had an iphone for 2 weeks now and everyday I find something else it doesn’t do that my old BB did but none of the reviews ever mention things like, well for me, typing. It’s like I’ve lost my right hand, check coworker’s or my own availability for a meeting, decline and comment a meeting, snooze a meeting notice. Check radar is way slower. One button dialing. Right-click anywhere for options. Delete multiple emails. Or just the way you can just start typing and it finds all related emails, contacts. I mean aren’t these the reason why you have a smart phone? I know there are a ton of cool things iphones do but really watching a show on your phone? Plus I can do those with a bigger device and I don’t have to fight my son for my BB. So, how is that people love iphones over BB? I’m trying to go back to BB, even if my company won’t let me have a Q10, which was awesome in the store, I’ll take a Bold over the iphone.

Bratty

@iConfused I understand the frustration but the iPhone does most (is not all) of these things. Find them online or spend some time with your phone. As a former BB user, I can tell you that its an adjustment period. For ex, I LOVED keyboards but am indifferent now.

These are two brilliant smartphones for their respective platforms, however, the decision will probably be made on the brand loyalty.
Apple iOS has more applications for the moment, but the BlackBerry Configuration goes in the right direction in terms of quantity and quality of applications. While the iPhone 5 is not as good in terms of media consumption than its Android competitors, it is better than BlackBerry Q10 in terms of screen and on an equal footing in terms of image quality.

iConfused

@Bratty I don’t know. My wife struggles with typing on the iphone even after 6mos and doesn’t like it as a phone! Crazy. I guess I’m still confused as when I ask people why they want a touch phone it seems to be about non-business stuff. Not surprising I guess…becomes an emotional connection and dare I say a little prestige? It does seem that they got it right with the Q10 but really late and will take a while for folks to see and try and maybe even realize what they lost. Only took me 2 weeks. Bold 9930 in Friday with touch screen and I’m really excited.

PhoneDog is one of the largest and most popular interactive mobile news and reviews resource that attracts a community of more than 2.5 million unique visitors each month. The site may have a "cute" name, but it offers up serious editorial content and video reviews that users rely on to make important decisions about their next mobile purchases.